'Difficult decision'

They have now filed papers with Cardiff council saying that given the lack of uptake “the developer is therefore left with [a] difficult decision”.

They say they could open but with a lower occupancy or find a different use for the property.

As a result they have now applied for permission for a change in use which would allow them to let the apartments out for spells of up to 90 days for the next year.

The developer says they would first fill as many rooms as possible with students and then “subject to demand and capacity” use any empty rooms as professional serviced apartments.

“This approach will enable maximum potential occupancy,” they say.

The building is divided into the north and south buildings and certain floors of each would be given to professionals renting rooms.

Keycards would mean that people staying on student floors would not be able to access the let rooms and vice versa.

'Neutral' impact

The developer says that as they target their flats towards mature and overseas students “the impact of the change of use would be neutral”. There would be no physical changes to the development.

The apartments would be let for a maximum of 90 days and charged at a weekly rate. Fusion say they will directly target people wanting to stay between two and five days.

But they will also target short-let clients come from the corporate world including people attending conferences or sportsmen and women attending the city’s sporting venues and events.

The temporary change of use would expire on August 31, 2018.

The company has applied for a similar change of use at their sites in Bristol and Newcastle upon Tyne.

Ward councillor Nigel Howells said: "With a number of significant student accommodation developments in Adamsdown in the pipeline, it is a worry if this one cannot be filled.

"The last thing we want is for these developments to lay empty, particularly when there is a significant demand for housing in the area. The council needs to urgently assess demand for such accommodation and if necessary, support developments that alleviate the housing shortage."